MEDIA ALERT

from the American College of Surgeons http://www.facs.org

ACS Stresses Need for Medicare Physician Payment Fix

CHICAGO--The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and its 65,000 members again today stressed the need for Congressional action to fix the Medicare physician fee schedule. Earlier today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) displayed the 2004 Medicare physician fee schedule, which includes a 4.5 percent payment cut for physicians next year. Without federal legislation, the cut will go into effect January 1, 2004, for every physician who provides care for Medicare patients.

Thomas R. Russell, MD, FACS, Executive Director of the College, remarked that "America's seniors and disabled patients deserve accessible and affordable health care. Another cut in physician reimbursements threatens their access not only to surgeons, but to all providers paid under the Medicare physician fee schedule."

"Over the last 15 years, Medicare reimbursements for surgical services have declined steeply. Reimbursements for many surgical procedures are now less than half of what they once were," noted Dr. Russell. "With the price of medical liability insurance and other practice expenses continuing to escalate, surgeons, like other physicians, find themselves struggling to keep up with the demands of an aging population."

The College strongly supports provisions in the Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act, H.R. 1, which would avert further payment reductions by ensuring positive Medicare fee schedule updates in 2004 and 2005. The bill would halt the scheduled cuts and replace them with a 1.5 percent increase in each of the next two years.

"One of the greatest achievements of the Medicare program is the access to high-quality care it has brought to our nation's senior and disabled patients. This level of access cannot be expected to continue uninterrupted in the face of ongoing Medicare cuts and rising liability premiums," explained Dr. Russell. "Surgeons are looking to Congress for swift action on physician reimbursement reform."

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients.

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Online November 4, 2003